Joohyun lets out a small yawn and leans back in her chair. She had promised Seungwan that she would be by her side when she wakes up again. There was no way she was going to break it.

She had informed their families early in the morning that Seungwan was awake from her prolonged slumber the previous night. In return, she received enthusiastic responses from them. Their voices carried relief and utter happiness. 

Seungwan shifted in her sleep letting out small groans. It alerted Joohyun as she leaned forward and grabbed Seungwan's hand. The younger girl fluttered her eyes open. Joohyun let out a sigh of relief as she looked at the curious doe eyes of Seungwan who was still getting used to the bright light around her with adoration.

“Morning Wan,” She whispered, greeting the confused girl with a small smile.

“Water,” Seungwan croaked out, hands massaging the top of her head.

Joohyun immediately obliged and poured her a glass of water. She mumbled a quick “Be careful,” as she helped Seungwan sit up before she pressed the glass to her lips and helped her drink water.

“Do you want more?” Joohyun asked as she sat beside her and enveloped the younger in a much-needed hug.

“You stayed,” Seungwan whispered. Her fingers caressed Joohyun's skin to make sure she wasn't in some kind of dream.

“I promised, didn't I,” She replied, taking Seungwan's hands in her hands before she started pressing her lips against her knuckles.

She saw Seungwan knitting her eyebrows together as if she was trying to focus on something.

“Don't sleep on the chair like that ever again,” Seungwan whispered, clenching her eyes shut. “It'll hurt your neck.”

Joohyun felt the same fluttering in her heart yet again. Seungwan was laying on a hospital bed after surviving a life-threatening injury but here she was still worried about Joohyun's well-being more than her own. How could Joohyun not love this woman?

“I wanted to be as close to you as possible. It didn't hurt me because you were close to me,” She replied in a whispering manner, eyes focused on Seungwan's furrowed brows along with her eyes that were still closed.

“Is everything alright? Should I call the doctor?” She asked worriedly.

“It's hurting,” Seungwan mumbled, letting out a painful whimper, burying her face in Joohyun's neck.

“Where?” She inquired, concern evident in her voice.

“My head, it hurts, everything is spinning,” Seungwan whimpered.

Joohyun let out a sigh as she tightened her hold around her for a few moments before she let go. She stood up and helped her lie down again.

“You need a lot of rest,” Joohyun whispered, pressing her lips against her forehead. “I'll call the doctor to check up on you, hmmm,” She mumbled comforting her.

Seungwan closed her eyes feeling somewhat disappointed. She didn't like the feeling of Joohyun being away from her even for a second. So before she lost the warmth that was enveloping her, she reached out for Joohyun's hand and pulled her back.

“Unnie.”

Joohyun felt her jaw fall wide open. She blinked, registering the words that just came out of Seungwan's mouth. She stared straight into Seungwan's chocolate orbs, her gaze mimicking the desperation in her voice. It made her feel breathless.

“Don't leave—Stay here,” Seungwan uttered, almost begging the older girl with her eyes. 

“I am not going anywhere Seungwan,” cooed Joohyun once she settled down beside the younger girl.

Seungwan let out small sighs as she wasted no time in attaching herself to her wife. She buried her face in the crook of her neck and let herself get drowned in the sweet scent of her wife.

“Baby,” Joohyun whispered, tucking loose strands of hair behind her ears. “Is everything alright? Is it hurting a lot?” she couldn't help but get worried. She had never seen Seungwan like this. The younger girl was never this affectionate and clingy. There must be something happening inside her mind for her to crave this much affection.

“It's bearable with you,” Seungwan muttered, her voice barely coming out. “Just stay here until I fall asleep again. I have been away from you for so long and it overwhelmed me a lot. You know I don't like to be away from you.”

Joohyun silently nodded and laid beside the latter carefully.

“Are we even allowed to do this?” Joohyun chuckled as she caressed Seungwan's cheek gently.

“Do I look like I care?” Seungwan mumbled, deadpan.

Joohyun let out a giggle as she mumbled, “And you're back.”

“You wished for me to wake up didn't you,” Seungwan whispered, allowing herself to drown in Joohyun's warm embrace.

“I did,” Joohyun replied, still taken aback by the fact that Seungwan was in her embrace talking to her. “How did you know?”

“A feeling…I guess. Everything was bright…so bright that it could blind anyone if they opened their eyes. I kept them closed. I kept hearing you and others. I couldn't bear hearing you cry every night. I tried to open my eyes every night but I was too much of a coward last night something inside me awakened. It was a voice just begging me to come back to you…So I did,” Seungwan confessed, lips fluttering against her wedding band that Joohyun kept close to her heart.

Joohyun inhaled deeply, patting Seungwan's head lightly. She pressed her lips against Seungwan's temples trying to convey how thankful she felt that Seungwan came back.

“You did well,” Joohyun whispered, brushing Seungwan's fringe away from her head.

“I should grow it out,” Seungwan whispered, voice laced with sleep.

“I was thinking of cutting mine,” Joohyun shared.

“I guess I'll donate mine to you,” Seungwan trailed off voice getting more slurred with each word that came out of .

“I missed you Seungwan.”

“I missed you too.”

Silence enveloped the room as none of them dared to speak. It was like a silent agreement that they enjoyed hearing each other's throbbing hearts while being cuddled together.

“I'm sorry,” Seungwan apologised.

“Suddenly?” Joohyun asked, confused.

“I made you wait for so long and here I am going back to sleep again,” Seungwan muttered after a pause.

“Don't apologise. I like watching you sleep,” Joohyun hummed. “I will wait for you as long as you want me to. We're in this together.”

They fall into a comfortable silence again until Joohyun hears Seungwan's soft snoring, indicating that Seungwan was back to being peaceful in her dreamland.

“You're alright and that's the only thing that matters…take as much time as you want…I'll be there.”

•~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~•

“Your vitals seem normal. It seems like you're dealing with the after-effects of waking up from a coma. It's nothing serious and it'll fade away soon,” the doctor concluded, making the other sigh in relief.

Joohyun nodded and glanced toward Seungwan who was busy catching up with both of their families before she followed the doctor outside.

“Your wife is on her way to full recovery but there is one thing we should warn you about.”

“Yes, doctor. You can count on me,” Joohyun spoke.

“Our staff from the neurological department heard about the whole case, and they warned us about your wife potentially dealing with some physiological trauma related to everything that went down. In such situations, you have to remain patient and make sure she remains calm. Although she is awake now it's better to prevent her from stressing over things,” the doctor explained.

Joohyun nodded attentively and took note of all the precautions the doctor recommended to her about Seungwan's condition.

“I'll keep these in mind,” she thanked the doctor and made her way back inside the room. She sat in a corner and kept her gaze on her wife that was being showered with love.

•~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~•

“Don't tell me!” Seulgi squeals, almost dropping the files she was carrying once she saw the married couple cuddled in the hospital bed together.

Seungwan's hands were clutching the hem of Joohyun's shirt with her nose buried in the crook of the older girl's neck. While Joohyun's arms were tightly wrapped around Seungwan's front, her head nestled with the younger one's head.

Sooyoung let out a gasp as reality started to sink into her mind. She looked toward Seulgi who was equally shocked.

“Let's not wake them up,” Sooyoung whispered and led them outside. “We should ask the doctor.”

Seulgi plopped down on the couch with a grin on her face with Sooyoung following her to do the same.

“She's finally awake!” Seulgi exclaimed, clapping her hands together to express her excitement.

“She woke up before her birthday ended,” Sooyoung mumbled. “I wonder what gift Joohyun unnie gave her that forced her to come back.”

“Love!” Seulgi exclaimed. “There is no gift greater than love.”

Sooyoung suppressed a grin, heart filled with adoration for the older girl's innocence.

“Seulgi-ah.”

Both of them looked toward the bed to see Seungwan staring at them with half-lidded eyes. They immediately stood up cursing themselves mentally for disturbing the sleep of both girls.

“We're sorry Seungwan-ah we didn't mean to disrupt your sleep—” Seulgi blabbered.

“I missed your birthday—Happy birthday my friend,” Seungwan cut her off with a small smile on her face.

Seulgi pouted tears already streaming down from her eyes as Sooyoung frantically tried to calm her down.

“Babe. Stop crying. God, you're such a baby,” Sooyoung muttered, dabbing away the tears from Seulgi's eyes.

“Babe?” Seungwan muttered, raising her eyebrows scandalously.

“Seungwan unnie!”

“I already knew. You two were terrible at hiding those heart eyes,” Seungwan whispered, stopping herself from laughing to not disturb Joohyun.

She looked toward the sleeping girl with profound adoration for the older girl.

“Sleep well,” she whispered gently Joohyun's hair while she kept catching up with the other two.

“You know,” Seulgi suddenly spoke. “This is the first time Joohyun unnie has slept this soundly since that day.”

It made Seungwan's heart flutter. She couldn't stop herself from blushing. Joohyun loved her a lot and didn't let go of a single chance to show that.

“I know.”

“Ugh! Stop making noise,” Joohyun groaned, opening her eyes.

“Unnie! You didn't even bother telling us that Seungwan was awake,” Seulgi whined.

“It slipped my mind,” Joohyun shrugged and sat up making Seungwan whine. “You should get up and eat something.”

“We brought dinner but I don't think Seungwan unnie is allowed to eat this yet,” Sooyoung showed Joohyun the food.

“Yeah. You should eat soft food for now,” Joohyun raised her brow to see a frown on Seungwan's face. “I will give you fruits after that.” Joohyun giggled knowing her words did the trick because Seungwan was nodding furiously to her words.

“You have to feed me.”

“What? No! You're not a child eat it yourself.”

“If you don't, I am going to use that word again.”

“Don't you dare!”

“Joohyun…unnie please feed me.”

Joohyun ended up helping Seungwan eat her food while earning snickers from the other couple throughout the night.

“Whipped.”

“Didn't know she had an unnie kink.”

•~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~•

Joohyun was about to fall asleep when she suddenly heard whimpers. She had been spending more time in the office on Seungwan's instance. Technically, Seungwan told her not to bring work to the hospital and take rest at home. But she had other plans.

She got up from the couch and approached Seungwan who was clenching the sheets tightly. The younger girl was making great progress. The more she recovered the more nightmares she got. 

Joohyun felt awful because it wasn't something she could control. She doesn't know what went down but Seungwan keeps begging in her sleep just to end her life. It probably links back to the beating she received from Donghae's men.

If Joohyun has the power to do so she would do anything to free Seungwan from them.

“Seungwan! You're burning,” Joohyun crouched and pressed her hand against Seungwan's forehead to find it flushing against her hand.

The brunette just remained still as a painful whimper escaped from “Joohyun,” Seungwan said weakly, a shaking hand tugging the latter's hand.

“I am here love,” Joohyun whispered smothering Seungwan's shaking palm with kisses. “Nothing is going to happen to you. Hmmm, you're safe with me.”

“Hyun,” Seungwan whimpers shuffling and Joohyun wastes no time in holding her.

“I am here. What's wrong tell me” She grabs the latter's free hand and squeezes it tightly.

“Tell…them to…stop,” Seungwan muttered, holding onto Joohyun's hand tightly.

Joohyun follows the lines along her forehead and the furrow between her brows and it doesn't take long for her to figure out that Seungwan is struggling to cope with the trauma the whole incident has caused. She might be getting better physically but the whole thing took a while toll on her mentally. 

She slips inside the sheets and holds Seungwan's shaking figure tightly and showers her with kisses. “Seungwan, I am right here. Baby, nothing is going to happen to you.”

“Please, stay with me,” Seungwan pleaded, clutching her shirt tightly.

“I am not going anywhere. Baby, I am here.”

That's how Joohyun found herself wide awake in the middle of the night with a sick Seungwan sleeping beside her with her face buried in the crook of her neck.

Maybe it was the heat coming from Seungwan's body or it was just herself but she couldn't fall asleep. She had a lot on her mind. Her thoughts were filled with ways to make Seungwan feel better about the whole situation.

“Joohyun,” She blinked, hearing her name as Seungwan shuffled

 “Why are you not sleeping?” asked the latter, her voice laced with tiredness and sleep.

“I couldn't—wait how did you know?” Joohyun turned to her side to meet Seungwan's tired gaze and a weary smile on her face

 “Your breathing pattern is different when you're asleep.”

“You know that” Joohyun mumbled, feeling giddy about the fact that Seungwan pays such close attention to her. Even in darkness Seungwan's tired eyes sparkle and Joohyun swear that she put the stars in the sky the way her eyes shine.

“It must be because of me.”

“No!” she denied as she brought up her hand to caress Seungwan's warm cheeks. “I just feel restless…a lot has been going through my mind.”

“I just hope there is something I can help you with,” Seungwan mumbles hand coming up to hold Joohyun's unoccupied hand. 

Joohyun looks straight into the eyes of the younger girl before her eyes fall to her lips before her self-control could stop her she finds herself capturing her lower lip. She tried to stop herself but it was to no avail. She had missed the latter a lot and it was getting harder to stop herself.

Seungwan gasped with her eyes wide open for a few moments as she looked at Joohyun who was still kissing her, slowly she closed her eyes before she started to reciprocate the kiss, a little clumsy, a little slow, but sharing the same feelings as Joohyun.

Joohyun pulled back realizing that Seungwan was probably breathless by the sudden action.

“I couldn't help it. I'm sorry.” Joohyun whispered. 

“Your eyes sparkle so much and whenever you smile I feel like my heart would explode because it just does something to me…everything you do is exceptional on its own and sometimes I have this urge to just wrap you in my arms and proclaim to the entire world that you're mine and I am just so in love with you.” 

She whispered, caressing Seungwan's cheeks, feeling the weight lift from her chest. She had been holding herself back for the longest time considering Seungwan's condition but something about seeing the girl in such a vulnerable condition made her break all the walls she built.

“I love you too—now sleep Joohyun.” 

Joohyun blinks, registering Seungwan's words as the latter nuzzles closer to her neck, hands tugging the back of her shirt pulling her closer and soon she hears the soft snores coming out from Seungwan's mouth.

She lets out a chuckle thinking how easily her wife went back to sleep while she just poured out her innermost emotions in front of her.

•~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~•

“I can shower by myself!” Seungwan hugged the sheets tightly, hiding her body from Joohyun who was holding a pair of fresh clothes in her hand. Seungwan was getting discharged and the younger girl wanted to leave in a clean state.

“Why are you hiding?” Joohyun chuckled. “I have seen everything,” she whispered, pulling the sheets down as she tugged Seungwan's hand, leading her toward the bathroom. 

“I can do it by myself!” Seungwan snatched the clothes and rushed inside the bathroom, closing the door in Joohyun's face.

“Oh! I never got to tell you but you have a nice down there.”

“Son Joohyun!”

•~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~•

Joohyun crossed her arms sitting on the edge of their shared bed, watching as Seungwan was buttoning her shirt. She didn't expect Seungwan to be back at work just a couple of days after her discharge but at the same time she wasn't shocked, her wife had a lot of endurance.

She raised her eyebrows when she saw her throwing a questionable look to her through the mirror. “What?” She asked to which Seungwan shrugged and walked over the bed to grab her phone.

“Stop staring at me like that.”

“Like what?”

“You know it clearly what I mean.”

“I just missed you in your Ceo esque outfits,” She admitted standing up to rest her chin on Seungwan's shoulder. Seungwan chuckled before she turned around to face her holding her hand in her palm.

“You're a bad influence Joohyun,” Seungwan pointed out, eyeing the ed buttons of her shirt that were buttoned moments ago.

“Is my influence is working on miss I don't do one night stands?”

“No!”

Seungwan face palmed and grabbed Joohyun's handbag leading both of them outside.

“We have work,” Seungwan told after they were seated inside the car with a pouty Joohyun crossing her arms in frustration.

“You're mean,” Joohyun huffed. “I just want you to rest.”

“Without my shirt on,” Seungwan raised her eyebrows as Joohyun looked away trying her best to look innocent. Seungwan threw her back for a moment realising how much she was in love with her wife.

“Joohyun, Son Joohyun, my wife, my beloved, my life, my love,” Seungwan cupped her face, pressing her lips on her forehead. “You're guilty for making me such a lovesick fool. I can't believe you're making me contemplate on skipping my first day back at work.”

“Is it working?” Joohyun asked with a smug smile on her face.

“It's still a no, darling, we're going to take some days around your birthday,” Seungwan announced.

“I wasn't aware,” Joohyun mumbled furrowing her brows.

“You are now,” Seungwan whispered and leaned closer. “I have some things under my sleeve but you'll only get surprises if youll be a good girl.”

“Do I get a say? Maybe I don't want to take an off on my birthday.”

“We'll see Miss Son.”

“I don't negotiate Miss Bae.

•~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~•

“Are you flexing your wealth to me, on my birthday out of all days?”

It made Seungwan burst into laughter. She didn't expect that Seungwan's supposed surprise for her birthday would lead them to a penthouse located in Gangnam out of all places. Seungwan could've cooked her something and she would be happy but to bring her to a luxury penthouse just for a dinner was too much.

“It's a gift,” Seungwan blurted, raising her hands to caress her hair before she showed the keys to her. “It's our new place.” Seungwan added, making her widen her eyes.

“This...this place is ours,” She stammered, feeling Seungwan's arms snaking around her waist as she hugged her from behind.

“I had enough of holding myself back Joohyun,” Seungwan whispered kissing the burning tips of her ears. “It's about time I spoil you.”

“But you already do by taking care of me.”

“This is me taking care of you,” Seungwan whispered with a grin plastered on her face. “Remember when you said you loved the sky, look we're living in the sky, you said you loved seeing the city from the top and look you're gonna wake up everyday to this scene.”

“You remember everything I say,” She asked astonished that Seungwan paid close attention to her words.

“I do,” Seungwan pulled back after leaving a kiss on her cheek as she lead her to the kitchen.

“You cooked these.”

“Any doubt.”

She couldn't help but break into a smile because true to her words Seungwan still managed to give her the dinner she wanted, her favourite dishes cooked by her and some good wine.

“I feel grateful that you took the initiative to give our marriage a chance,” Seungwan muttered after both of them were seated. “I thought it was over for us after that huge fight but we went from hating each other to this.

“It's been a long journey for us,” She mumbled, flashing a smile to the younger girl.

After they were done, Seungwan didn't waste any time and lead her to the bedroom.

“I know you have a different surprise in your mind but I want to do this before anything else,” Seungwan mumbled and brought out two boxes from her pockets.

She gasped as she saw the same pendant she had given to Seungwan in her hands, the only difference being Seungwan's fingerprints on the ring instead of hers.

“It wasn't fair of you to beat me to a proposal Joohyun,” Seungwan said as she helped her wear the pendant around her neck before she opened the second box revealing a ring.

“I was planning on proposing you there but things didn't go my way,” Seungwan admitted as she removed the wedding band she was wearing and put it inside the box.

“We're free from the shackles of a relationship that was arranged for us Joohyun and our rings symbolise that we're here for love that we share not because of a contract. It's our marriage, our love not some contract and one day I promise you I'll marry you again, you'll walk down the aisle again, we'll recite our vows again, our reception will be filled with genuine feelings and we'll consume the love we have for each other. I promise you that we'll be happy.”

“You !”

“Why are you crying?”

“I'm crying because such a fool in love. You can't be like this and not expect me to cry Seungwan.”

Seungwan wiped her tears not with her thumbs but with her kisses instead and slipped the ring on her finger, kissing it before she let go of her hand and cupped her face.

“How can I make up to you for making you cry?”

“Kiss me.”

Seungwan raised her hand and gently cupped her cheeks before she dipped her head, capturing her lips in a tender kiss. She tilted her head as she threw her arms over her neck and kisses her fervently.

She pulled back and looked straight into Seungwan's eyes. Both of them couldn't help but break into smiles because it was the first time they had kissed without any restraints, without ghosts of past hunting them, without any distrust.

Seungwan leaned closer kissing her again unable to suppress her smile she pulled back and rested her head on her forehead.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“Being a lovesick fool for you is my fourteenth mistake.”